Mother of Lonely Boy Gifts Her Son with Friends (thousands of them) for His Birthday

Colin told his mom he didn’t want a birthday party when he turns 11 because he had no friends to invite. Days later he has over 400,000 friends worldwide.

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When I read about this Kalamazoo, Michigan boy who has a hard time socializing thanks to an Asperger’s like condition, I remembered my own son at age 10—socially ostracized because of his attention deficit disorder. I lived through being the mother of a child who had a hard time making friends and I can tell you, it’s heartbreaking.

Colin’s mom, though, had a plan. She decided to create a Facebook Page called Happy Birthday Colin, to surprise her son on March 9th with new virtual friends who would “like” the page (along with a post office box address for those who wised to send birthday cards).

The story was picked up by WoodTV two days ago, and soon the Page LIKES jumped to 8,500 and cards began pouring in from as far away as Scotland and Switzerland.

I’m not sure just how they are keeping Colin off the internet until his March 9th surprise unveiling of his international fan club, which will by then number in the millions. Colin’s mom posted yesterday this hint that it’s not been easy.

“Hey everyone, quick reminder- this page is a SECRET from Colin, and I’d like to keep it that way as long as I can (or at least until his birthday) Several kids at school told him they saw him on the news, and he overheard a teacher saying to another teacher that she saw him on Facebook. Colin’s dad and I were able to explain it away, but please be careful if you know Colin in real life. Thank you!”

Here’s to a great surprise for a little boy, one that shows me just how amazing it is when a mom takes a heartbreak and makes it into a global movement of love.

Happy Birthday Colin!

A one minute video of Mom and sister telling the world about their big secret birthday surprise, was embedded here but FB took it down from the Happy Birthday Page (because it must be crashing something in Facebook land.)

If you want to be a part of Colin’s 11th Birthday surprise, go here and LIKE his page.

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Lori Ann Lothian is a sexy daring writer who challenges assumptions about love, sex and relationships in her columns at Huffington Post and elephant Journal and in feature articles at the Good Men Project, Origin Magazine, Yoganonymous, Better After 50 and more. Former editor of the relationship section of elephant Journal, she is now a senior editor at the Good Men Project. Follow her on Twitter andGoogle. Stay informed, sign up for Lori’s mailing list here.

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